


Little Strings

by adiwriting



Series: Invisible String [3]
Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Deaf Character, Friendship, Gen, M/M, Missing Moments, POV Child, The lost decade but happier
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-04
Updated: 2020-09-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:34:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25709803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adiwriting/pseuds/adiwriting
Summary: A collection of drabbles and one-shots set in the "Invisible String" verse.
Relationships: Michael Guerin/Alex Manes
Series: Invisible String [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1853725
Comments: 26
Kudos: 74





	1. Missing Scene = The Pod Squad are found in the desert

**Author's Note:**

> While writing Invisible String, there were a few scenes that I ended up cutting out because they didn't match the flow of the fic. Rather than trash it all together, I figured that some people may enjoy reading those short scenes. For now, these are just outtakes. However, I could be persuaded to write prompt fills and/or there are a lot of backstories that I never ended up writing at all, and this could serve as a space for me to do that, if there's interest. We'll see.

**1997**

The three of them stay huddled together in the cave for a long time before he realizes that they cannot stay here forever. Nobody has come for them and the weird cave their pods were left in offers little to them in the way of meeting any of their needs. The girl is shivering from cold and his throat is burning in a way that means he’ll need water soon if he wants to survive. He stands up, and without a word, the other two follow him. 

So, apparently he’s going to take the lead. He doesn’t feel like he’s qualified for that, but then again, the other two really don’t seem up for the job and somebody has to do something to keep them alive long enough to be found. 

They stumble around in the dark for a while down a long tunnel before it ends. The wall in front of them isn’t made of rock like the rest of the cave, instead it’s made of a solid, but plantlike substance that seems familiar enough to him even if he cannot place it. It’s hard and brown and… doesn’t move. He’s about to turn around to find another way out when the girl starts pushing against the structure and the entire thing shakes, almost like… 

_Is it a door?_ he asks. 

_I can hear the wind, can’t you?_ the girl says, her ear to the structure. 

He places his ear against it too, but doesn’t hear anything. Instead, he feels a soft breeze of air hit his cheek. It’s enough to know that their way out is through. 

He steps back and the girl follows suit, the boy is still waiting behind them, has been the entire time. Though he’s not sure how he even knows what to do, he pulls on the energy inside of him and throws it out until the structure falls to the ground and the tunnel is filled with a gust of wind, making all of them shiver. 

The boy and girl both look at him in shock and awe. When he grabs both of their hands again, he feels the deep seeded faith they have in his ability to protect them and he knows with absolute certainty, it’s unwarranted. 

They step out into the open air. The girl stops to pick up the structure and struggles to pull it back up until all three of them help her. They get it back in place and he looks at her. 

_ Why did we close it?  _ he asks, confused. 

_ It’s our home. We should protect it _ _ , _ she says. 

He doesn’t get it at first, but much later from now, he will. 

They walk, hand in hand, the boy between them so that he’s easier to protect. The girl and he have a private agreement that he’s the most fragile and thus, it’s their duty to put him first. 

It’s dark, wherever they are. Cold. Empty. Strange. The plants here are dry and even without light, he can tell that this land lacks the kind of life he expected to see. 

_ What is this place?  _ the girl asks. 

He has no answers. It’s most certainly not home. Nothing about it feels familiar, and he can feel the same unease and unfamiliarity in the others. Wherever they are, it’s new. 

_Let’s walk,_ he suggests. _There has to be life out here._

And so they walk. Together, hand in hand. The ground hurts their feet. The sky is dark despite the fact that he can see thousands of suns. None of them are enough to warm this dead, desolate place. They walk for what feels like forever, expecting there to eventually be something, but there’s nothing as far as their eyes can see. 

They eventually make it to a smoother ground that doesn’t make their feet bleed when they walk on it, and they decide to stay on the path it lays out for them. The boy is growing more distant, the connection more muted. Despite the fact that the boy had kept step with them earlier, he’s finding they are pulling him along more now. 

_ What are you looking at?  _ the girl asks the boy. He looks over to see the boy is staring up at the sky and when he pushes to open their connection wider, he feels the longing within him. 

_ Home.  _

The girl looks like she’s about to start crying again and he’s filled with a feeling of rage that they’ve been put in this position with no adult anywhere in sight to help. 

_I don’t understand why they would leave us in this place,_ he says, looking around this dead land with disgust. It’s becoming clearer and clearer to him that they aren’t going to come across any sign of life in this vast nothingness. This is a dead world where even the ground can’t find a way to live. 

_ Who?  _ she asks, the arm that’s not holding onto the boy is wrapped around her stomach and he can feel her closing in on herself. 

_ Our parents _ , he explains. She gives him a strange look. Both of them do. 

_Parents?_ the boy says, the word sounds foreign to him. As if he doesn’t understand what it means. 

_Yeah, our parents,_ he argues, before realizing that even as he’s saying it, he can’t picture them. He knows he came from a mother and a father. He feels a love deep in his bones that tells him he once had somebody. And yet… he can’t picture them. His mind won’t allow him to access any memory of them. 

_We had to have had parents,_ he says, with a confidence that’s starting to wane. _Right?_

 _Came from nothing. Die as nothing,_ the boy says. 

The girl meets his eyes and they both share a look of dread before glancing back over at the boy. 

_What does that even mean?_ he asks, though he’s pretty positive he doesn’t want to know the answer. After all, what little he’s seen inside this boy's mind had been a nightmare. 

_ No parents. Only us. Three.  _

There’s a weird vibration that starts running through the ground and both the boy and the girl jump at something and look over their shoulder. A second later, a bright light appears, casting shadows onto the ground. He turns around, expectant. Hopeful. While he can’t remember what home looks like, he knows what he sees isn’t it. It’s big and made of some kind of crude metal with rudimentary wheels. A man sits inside of it so he can only surmise that it’s some kind of vehicle. The image doesn’t pull on his memory in the way that the two kids beside him do or the way the pods did… so this is something extraterrestrial. And clearly primitive. It makes him once again question where they are and how they’d ended up in such an awful place. 

Out of the vehicle comes a man who looks like them, but isn’t one of them. He tries to walk towards them, but the boy takes several steps back and the man stops, holding up his hands. 

_No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,_ is all the boy keeps saying. 

He reaches out his hand behind him for the boy's hand, but rather than take it, the boy takes off. He instantly follows, pulling the girl along with him. 

_ Stop!  _ she calls out to them. 

_ Wait!  _ He tries, but their voices get lost in the boy’s cries. 

_No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,_ the boy keeps repeating as he runs ahead of them and they struggle to keep up with their aching feet. 

_What if the man can help!_ the girl argues. 

_You wanna tell him that?_ he says. 

They run until the lights from the vehicle disappear and eventually the boy stops, sitting down and curling up into himself. The girl takes him into her arms. The moment she touches him, they are both hit with a wave of overwhelming fear and panic. Images flash so quickly before his eyes that it makes him dizzy. 

_ Do something, _ he says to the girl. Much like with his own power before, he’s not sure how he knows that she can do it, he just does. And so must the girl. She closes her eyes and pushes into the connection until they are both standing in front of the boy in a strange place with a red sky and soft grounds. 

_ You are safe with us _ , she says to the boy.  _ You are safe and you can rest.  _

The boy moves to step away, but he’s chained to the floor. 

_It’s okay,_ the girl assures him. She closes her eyes and the images around them shift until they are standing beside a body of water, the boy’s chains gone. _We’re in control in here. Nothing is going to hurt you._

The boy looks doubtful, but when he nods at him encouragingly, the boy agrees. When the girl drops the connection and they are back in the dead land, the boy is asleep. 

_Well that’s a helpful trick,_ he says, relieved that the connection to the boy is temporarily quiet. He hadn’t noticed how much of his emotions he’d been carrying. It was a lot. He feels lighter. 

The girl smiles at him and he feels loved. Whoever this girl is to him, she’s family. She’s his. He wraps his arms around her. 

_Sister?_ he asks. It’s not the right word. Not exactly. But it’s close enough. 

_ Brother _ , she replies, holding him tight. The events of the day catch up to him and he cries. 

That’s when the red and blue lights find them. 


	2. Missing Scene = Michael moves to Santa Fe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This missing scene includes a brief mention in the beginning of child abuse, head's up. Also- it's super short!

**1999**

Michael has been at his new home for seven sleeps, but it had only taken two sleeps before his back was covered in black and blue. He’s learning that these new parents don’t have the same warning signs as his old ones did. At his old home, he was only in danger when the needles and the crystals came out. Here, his new parents always have a bottle in hand and they are always angry. In fact, the only time he’s ever seen them  _ not _ angry is when the woman in the fancy clothes had dropped him off. 

But today, his new parents aren’t his biggest problem. Today is his first day of school and he’s completely overwhelmed to find out that he’s been placed in one of the large classrooms. At his old school, he spent most of his day down the hallway away from most of the other kids. His class had only ten children in it. The room was open, with plenty of space to rest when he got tired. All of the writing had pictures to match and help him understand. Even when he had to go out to join the large class, he was allowed to leave when he needed a break. 

There are no breaks here. He’d tried to stand up and leave a little bit ago, and the teacher had blocked the door and her eyes glaring at him had told him more than her moving lips possibly could. There would be no leaving this room. 

He sits at his desk, looking at the paper in front of him. He doesn’t know how to read this language. He’s picked up some things. He can recognize the alphabetic system and write all of the letters in order. He has memorized some words that come up regularly. For example, he knows that the line at the top is where he’s expected to write his name. But when he stares at the paper in front of him there isn’t anything else he understands. 

He raises his hand and when his teacher comes over, he points at the paper. 

_Where are the pictures?_ he asks, but like every other member of this species, she doesn’t understand him. She moves her lips and points out various things on the paper, but she doesn’t make it make sense to him. As his teacher walks away, he realizes that he misses Ms. McHenry. He didn’t think it was possible to miss Ms. McHenry, but here he is. 

Rather than stare at a paper full of words he will never understand, he folds his arms and rests his head against them. He squeezes his eyes tight and pushes his stress into the open, searching for a connection to share, needing somebody to take his emotions and help replace them with better ones. 

Like always, there’s nothing. No one. 

He keeps his eyes closed and pictures his brother and sister on either side of him, holding his hands. He tries to remember what it felt like to share a bond with them. How safe he had felt. How loved. 

_ Why aren’t you here? Where did you go? Why did you leave me here? It was supposed to be us three.  _

He feels soft objects hitting him. He doesn’t have to look up to know that the kids are throwing paper at him, but he ignores it. Paper he can handle. It’s the glass bottles that hurt. 


	3. Rosa + Alex Missing moment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was written as part of a Flash Fic Challenge. 
> 
> Rules: Write for 30 minutes uninterrupted. At the end of the 30 minutes, post whatever you come up with, unedited. 
> 
> So all grammatical errors are my own and have been left as is. 
> 
> This is set sometime during 2008 before the start of Invisible String. Rosa is having a good week and Alex takes advantage of that whenever he can.

“You know your eyeliner is kinda fucked up Chiquito. You gonna let me give you tips or what?” Rosa asks him one day as they are walking back from the skate park. 

“If I let you give me tips, I’d be wearing red lipstick and then my dad would really beat my ass,” he argues, swatting her hand away as she reaches for his face. 

“No, red’s not your color,” she says. “Stick to black. It works in my favor having somebody in town more emo than me.” 

“Fuck you,” he says with a laugh. 

“Nah, you don’t swing that way and you couldn’t handle me,” she says. 

“That’s probably true,” he agrees. He loves Rosa’s energy, but it would be a lot to date somebody as fiery as her. 

“Besides…” she trails off, nervous. Rosa doesn’t get nervous. It’s weird. 

“What?” he asks, stopping in his tracks to look at her. 

“I’m not sure I swing that way,” she says, practically a whisper. 

“What?!” 

“Shh!” She reaches up her hand to cover his mouth. “Or maybe I swing that way part time? I’m not sure.” 

He pulls her hand off of his mouth and says, much quieter this time, “Sorry. What?” 

She shrugs. “I may kinda have this weird crush on a girl.” 

Alex has never seen Rosa blush a day in her life. But she’s blushing right now and it’s absolutely adorable. 

“Oh my god, who?”

“I’m not gonna say,” she tells him firmly. “And you’re not gonna CSI it out of me so don’t even try.” 

Alex gets the need to be secretive about this. Roswell isn’t what Alex would call an accepting town and Rosa knows that. Still, it doesn’t mean he’s not curious and is mentally going through all the girls Rosa could know and have a crush on. 

“I’m serious Alex,” she says with a glare.

“Okay,” he says, raising his hands in defense. A moment later he reaches out to pull her in for a hug and she reluctantly lets him. “That’s awesome though.” 

“Cause now you’re not the only rainbow freak here?” she asks. 

“Hey, you told me I’m not a freak and neither are you.” 

“It’s easy to say that, you don’t know who the girl is,” she says. 

Alex’s mind wanders through the catalog of girls it could be again, this time thinking through what he would consider to be odder pairs. 

“I said no, Manes,” she says firmly. She rarely uses his last name, only when she’s dead serious and wants to make sure he hears her. “No sleuthing.” 

“Fine,” he grumbles for a minute before smiling at her. “I’m really happy for you.” 

“Yeah, yeah,” Rosa says, rolling her eyes. “Whatever.” 

“Can I ask you about her if I don’t ask her name?” he asks as they turn onto the main drag and the sign for the Crashdown comes into view. 

“I guess,” she says, sounding put upon but he can tell by the tiny upturn of her lips that she’s actually happy to talk about it. That talking about it had been exactly why she’d brought it up in the first place. 

“Why do you like her?” he asks. 

“I don’t know,” she says. “She gets me. She sees the messed up pieces of me and doesn’t turn away. She understands and she’s… kind of messed up, too. It’s just nice to talk to her I guess. Kind of like how I can talk to you about things I can’t talk to Maria or Liz about.” 

He nods. He gets that. He wishes he had that. 

“She’s also pretty cute, I feel like she’d be a good kisser.”

“I kissed a girl and I liked it,” he starts to sing and Rosa groans, covering his mouth and looking around them in horror. 

“Okay, first of all, you have awful taste in music if you are singing that shit to me. Didn’t I train you better than that?” she complains. “Second of all, we haven’t kissed.” 

“Yet.” 

“Yet,” she says with a soft smile that has Alex smiling. They enter the Crashdown and head back towards their usual booth. 

“You’ll tell me when you do?” he asks. 

“Only if you promise to sing a better song when I do.” She gives him a judgmental look. He has to laugh. She’s not wrong. It is an awful song. It had been playing during PE though and has been stuck in his head all day, unfortunately. 

“Deal.” 

“Damnit, now I need to listen to something better to wipe my memory of that dumb song,” she grumbles, storming over to the jukebox to play something decent.


	4. Alex returns from his first deployment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Flash Fic: This wasn’t a prompt but was born out of a discussion with @litwitlady about needing a happy fluffy fic from the Lost Decade and this missing moment from Invisible String was born. 
> 
> Rules: Write for 30 minutes uninterrupted. At the end of the 30 minutes, post whatever you come up with, unedited.

Michael sits at the bus station, leg bouncing as he continually checks his watch. Alex’s bus was supposed to get in twenty minutes ago and every one of those twenty minutes has felt like a year. It has been nine months since Michael had last seen Alex and it’s been brutal. He cannot wait to wrap his arms around Alex and never let him go. 

Michael would have met Alex at the airport. He would have blown off Chemical Process Calculations and driven the three hours it would take to get to Holloman Air Force Base if he’d been allowed. But simple things like welcoming his boyfriend when he gets back from three months in Germany isn’t a luxury they are allowed. Not as long as Jesse Manes is still a threat to them. But Alex has assured him that as soon as they get to UNM, they can be more open. Nobody that they went to high school with lives in Michael’s dorm building and, let’s be honest, Michael isn’t sure they’ll get outside of his dorm room much. At least, not for the first week or so. They can worry about where they can safely go out after that. 

They’ve got thirty glorious days together and Michael hardly knows what to do with all of that time — but he’s going to cherish every second. He knows that they are destined to spend more time apart than they are together as long as Alex is still in the military, which, for now, is at least three more years. 

He still gets bitter about it whenever he thinks about how Alex had put all of his own plans on hold in order to protect Michael and his siblings. No matter how much Alex reminds him that it’s his own choice, Michael still feels guilty. Guilty and worried. It’s only been a year since Jesse took Alex, but Michael is pretty sure no amount of time will ever rid him of the fear that had caused. He just can’t lose Alex. It’s hard enough not being able to see him everyday. If he couldn’t ever see him again, he doesn’t think he would survive that. 

Michael feels Alex coming before he sees the bus and it makes him smile as his energy starts seeping out of him and reaching out for its mate. He stands up as the bus gets closer and starts bouncing in his spot with anticipation. The old woman standing next to him gives him a knowing smile. She asks him a question, but he is too distracted by the feeling of Alex approaching that he can’t concentrate enough to read her lips. 

The bus stops a little bit to the left of them, but Michael stands back, knowing that they are supposed to be playing it discrete until they can get to campus. Discrete went out the window with this old lady, but Michael is pretty sure she’s not some secret spy for Project Shepard. But there’s no telling who may be coming on that bus from Holloman and they can’t ever be too careful. He shoves his hands in his pockets to keep from reaching out. 

The bus doors open and Alex is the first one off the bus. He looks around for a moment before his eyes land on Michael and his face immediately breaks into a wide smile and he runs over to him, wrapping his arms around his waist and picking him up as he swings him around. 

They both laugh through tears of relief before Alex puts him down. 

WHAT HAPPENED TO DISCRETE? Michael asks, picking up Alex’s duffle for him and shouldering it before reaching his hand out to take Alex’s in his own. 

I VETTED EVERYONE ON THE BUS, PRETTY SURE WE ARE CLEAR, he signs one-handed. BESIDES, I COULDN’T WAIT. I MISSED YOU SO MUCH. 

Michael squeezes his hand. He has no idea. He’s spent some time on message boards for military wives. They say that deployments are actually harder on the spouse than the soldier. Michael wouldn’t have believed it if somebody told him as much this time last summer, but after living through the separation only able to communicate with each other on Alex’s time schedule, Michael believes it. But saying as much will only make Alex feel guilty, so he keeps such comments to himself. 

I MISSED YOU TOO, he signs instead. 

They walk to the truck and he throws Alex’s duffle in the back before climbing into the cab. The moment the door shuts behind him, Alex grabs him behind the neck and pulls him in for a kiss. A wave of energy builds inside of him, filling his heart and suddenly, it’s like he can breathe again. The missing part of his soul is home again. All is well in the world. 

When they pull away, Alex rests his forehead against Michael’s for a minute or two, both of them remembering how to breathe again, taking in deep breaths in sync with each other without necessarily trying to. Alex caresses his cheek and smiles at him. 

YOU’RE STARTING TO GET SOME STUBBLE, he says, fingers running over the small bit of stubble he’s been able to grow. 

I CAN SHAVE IT, IF IT BOTHERS YOU, Michael tells him. He hasn’t been taking time to shave because it’s a hassle. And expensive hassle. It’s not like his hair grows all that long anyways, so he just leaves it be. 

I LIKE IT, Alex signs, his finger trailing down until it rests at the top of Michael’s shirt, where he has it unbuttoned a few buttons. YOU’VE GOT SOME CHEST HAIR NOW TOO. 

I’M A REAL BOY, he signs, with a chuckle. 

But the look he gets back from Alex is anything but amused. His eyes are nearly black with want. 

YEAH? Michael signs, amused. THIS DO IT FOR YOU. 

YOU DO IT FOR ME, ALWAYS, he signs, playing with one of the buttons on his shirt. The slight brush of his knuckles against his chest sends shivers through his body. 

GUESS WE SHOULD GET BACK TO CAMPUS THEN, he signs and Alex agrees, sliding back into his seat to put on his seatbelt. Once they are both buckled in, Alex reaches out for his hand and Michael takes it willingly. Happily. God, this is what he’s missed. Things being soft and easy between them. This is how it should be always. Forever. 

This is how it will be. One day. They have an eternity together. They just have to deal with Project Shepard and they can start their happily ever after that. Michael can wait. He’d wait an eternity for Alex if he had to. 


	5. Malex spends some time together while Alex is on leave

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another fic born out of a discussion with @litwitlady about needing happy fluffy fic from the Lost Decade. This is another missing moment. 
> 
> Rules: Write for 30 minutes uninterrupted. At the end of the 30 minutes, post whatever you come up with, unedited.

In the middle of Michael’s spring semester his junior year at UNM, Alex is granted four days leave suddenly. He’s been stationed in Korea since January and they’d been told it’s meant to be a permanent station for him. It’s only been 74 days since they last saw each other, it’s hardly the longest they’ve been apart. But knowing this separation is long term, they’ve felt every day of it differently than they have before. 

So Michael had gotten a message from Alex approximately 36 hours ago and 15 hours later, they were meeting at a motel outside of Phoenix. Michael’s school schedule is insane this semester with 5 classes and 2 labs, but he doesn’t care. He’s going to spend every second he can with Alex while he can. The likelihood of him getting out to Korea isn’t high no matter how many times they try and figure it out. 

ARE YOU SURE HE CAN’T FIND US? Michael asks as they both get dressed in order to grab breakfast from the diner down the street. They’d purposefully picked a small town in Arizona to limit the likelihood that Jesse could have tracked Alex, but there's always a risk. 

I CHANGED PLANES IN CHICAGO AND AND EVEN IF HE TRACKS MY FLIGHT MANIFEST, THE FARTHEST HE’LL TRACE ME TO IS PHOENIX, Alex explains kindly, even though he must be frustrated by how many times Michael is making him explain it to him. 

I JUST DON’T WANT TO PUT YOU IN DANGER, he signs. 

Alex walks over to him and grabs his hips, slowly walking him backwards until he’s pinned against the wall. THE ONLY THING I’M IN DANGER OF RIGHT NOW IS DYING OF HUNGER.

I’M SERIOUS, Michael signs. 

SO AM I, he says. YOU KNOW THAT I WOULDN’T RISK SEEING YOU IF I DIDN’T THINK WE COULD DO IT SAFELY. OKAY? 

Michael takes a moment to let the news truly settle in his stomach before he nods. OKAY. 

Alex takes his hand and they walk out the door and continue hand in hand down the street towards the restaurant. It’s nice. They never got to have this in Roswell. And once they were free of the confining heterosexual expectations of their small town, Alex was gone. So they’ve never been able to have normal dating experience. Michael has never had normal dating experiences with anyone. 

He finds he likes this though. He enjoys walking hand in hand down the street. And if he can push the fears he has about Jesse and Project Shepard down, he can almost enjoy the knowing looks they get from the people they pass on the street. He’s always wanted to be able to show Alex off and let everyone know how proud he is of his boyfriend. 

They reach the diner and Alex holds the door open for him. Alex’s hand finds the small of his back as they are led to a booth towards the back. Michael has to smile when Alex chooses to sit on the same side of the booth as him. 

I LIKE YOU LIKE THIS, Michael signs as Alex snuggles into his side. Alex has always been affectionate, but Michael never imagined he would be so in public. 

IN KOREA, DID YOU KNOW THAT IT’S NORMAL FOR FRIENDS TO SHOW THEIR AFFECTION FOR EACH OTHER. EVEN BOYS WILL HOLD HANDS. IT’S NICE, Alex signs as a waitress comes over and pours them each a cup of coffee. 

SO WERE YOU HOLDING MY HAND AS A FRIEND THEN? he teases, even though he agrees with Alex. That sounds nice. He really does hate heteronormative culture. 

OH NO, I WAS HOLDING YOUR HAND AS MY SOULMATE, Alex signs and just seeing him sign that, even after all these years, sends a jolt of energy through him and then out of him. He can tell by the smile that grows on Alex’s face that it finds its home in Alex’s heart. 

The waitress comes over and they order their food. Michael points out what he wants on the menu and he smiles at the way Alex refuses to respond to the waitress, even when she asks him questions about Michael’s order. Of everyone in his life, Alex understands how much he hates when people try and speak for him without his permission. Isobel and Max mean well, but anytime they go out with him, they always end up ordering for him. He’s complained about it before, but they don’t understand why it is a big deal. They want to make his life easier, but they don’t understand that all it does is perpetuate this idea in society that Deaf people can’t function without help. 

DO YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT THE FIRST THING I WANT TO DO ONCE THIS IS ALL OVER? Alex asks. 

ONCE WHAT IS ALL OVER? PROJECT SHEPARD? he asks. 

Alex nods. THAT. AND ONCE I’M OUT OF THE FORCE. 

Alex being out of the force is something he dreams about often. It’s the place where his mind wanders during every boring lecture, during any quiet moment, during every long shift at work. He has come up with about a hundred different things he’d love to do with Alex once he’s free and he no longer has to live in fear that every day will be their last… But he’s curious to hear what Alex’s plans are. 

WHAT? he asks. 

I WANT TO GET MARRIED, he signs. 

Michael probably shouldn’t be shocked by the words. It’s not like he never thought about marriage before, he has. But he’s a bit shocked that Alex is saying it here of all places. In some run down diner in a town neither of them have any ties to. 

ARE YOU PROPOSING? Michael asks. 

Alex shakes his head. NO. WHEN I PROPOSE, I’LL WANT TO DO IT BIG. BE TRADITIONAL AND OBNOXIOUS ABOUT IT IN A WAY WE’RE NEVER ALLOWED TO BE. BUT… I DO WANT TO MARRY YOU. 

ME TOO, he agrees with a smile, leaning in for a sweet kiss. THOUGH, I KIND OF FEEL LIKE WE’RE ALREADY MARRIED. 

YEAH. AFTER YOUR SOUL HAS BEEN PERMANENTLY BOUND TO SOMEBODY SINCE YOU WERE SEVEN, I GUESS MARRIAGE DOESN’T REALLY SEEM LIKE AS BIG A DEAL, Alex signs. BUT I STILL DO WANT TO MARRY YOU MICHAEL GUERIN. I WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN TO ME. 

I WANT THAT TOO. 


End file.
